Lorne Stewart boss joins M&E rival Hills

The chief executive of M&E firm Lorne Stewart has left the company and joined rival Hills Electrical & Mechanical as managing director.

The appointment of Eddie Molnar at Hills, which with a turnover of £70m is one of the UK’s largest privately owned M&E specialists, is part of a shake-up at the family owned firm. David Hill, the chief executive and owner, is stepping aside from the day-to-day running of the business but will retain a strategic role.

Molnar had spent a total of 10 years at Lorne Stewart, where he rose up the managerial ranks to become chief executive. It is understood that he left earlier this year. Lorne Stewart confirmed his departure this week. It said a replacement had not yet been appointed.

Molnar’s arrival at Hills marks a structural reshuffle at the company, which has operated directly under Hill’s stewardship without a managing director since 2004. Hill’s new title has not been decided, although he said this week that he would not retain the title of chief executive.

Hill said: “We felt this would be a better way to organise the business, as Eddie has a huge amount of experience of direct operational responsibilities. I’m handing him day-to-day control of operations and will take a strategic role myself.”

A key figure in the M&E sector, Molnar has also held managerial positions at Balfour Kilpatrick and Rosser and Russell, the former Vinci subsidiary, which was sold to Emcor last month for an undisclosed sum.